# You Don’t Own Your Home: The Feudal Origins of Property Tax
**By Unearthed by Al**
**Reading Time**: 15-18 minutes
—
## I. The Governor’s Confession
*”Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government.”*
That’s not me saying that. That’s **Governor Ron DeSantis** of Florida, in 2025, admitting what most politicians won’t.
A sitting governor just acknowledged that homeownership as we know it is an illusion. You might have signed a deed. You might have paid off your mortgage. You might think you “own” your home. But try not paying your property tax for a year or two and see what happens. The government seizes your house, sells it at auction, and keeps the proceeds. Just like a landlord evicting a tenant.
If you can lose your home for not paying an annual fee, do you really own it? Or are you just renting it from the government with extra steps?
You might lose your job. You might face unexpected medical bills. You might fall behind on payments. Life happens. And when it does, the government doesn’t care that you’ve been paying property tax for twenty years. Miss two years and it’s gone.
The question everyone should be asking: **Where did this system come from?**
Why do we accept paying perpetual rent on something we supposedly own? Why does the government have the power to seize your home if you don’t pay them annually? And why does every politician promise to fix it, but nothing ever changes?
Let’s dig into history. Because this story starts with a medieval king, crosses the Atlantic with colonists, gets preserved by the Founding Fathers despite their revolutionary rhetoric, and persists today because too many people profit from it.
—
## II. The Feudal Origins: How Medieval Kings Started This
### 1066: William the Conqueror Invents Property Tax
The year is 1066. William the Conqueror invades England and establishes the feudal system. Here’s how it worked:
**The king owns ALL the land.** Every square inch. He then divides it among his loyal supporters: lords, knights, vassals. But here’s the catch: **they don’t own it.** They rent it from the king.
Payment came in various forms: money, crops, military service, or labor. This was called feudal tenure. The land was held with ongoing obligations to a superior. Miss your payment? The king evicts you. Probably kills you too.
There were two types of land ownership in medieval England:
1. **Allodial Title**: Land owned free and clear, with no obligations to any superior authority. Almost nonexistent. Only the king had allodial title.
2. **Feudal Title**: Land held with perpetual payment obligations. Everyone else.
Property tax is the direct descendant of feudal rent. Medieval tax assessors used property ownership to gauge “ability to pay” tribute to the crown. The principle was simple: you never truly “own” land. You lease it from the crown in exchange for perpetual payments.
This system was documented in the **Domesday Book** (1086), William the Conqueror’s comprehensive survey of England’s landholdings and taxable assets. English common law throughout the 11th-14th centuries formalized feudal tenure as the standard form of land ownership. The king granted land to nobles, who granted it to knights, who granted it to peasants. At every level, perpetual payment was required to maintain the holding.
Centuries later, colonists would bring this system across the Atlantic.
### Modern Ownership: Fee Simple
Today, most American property is held in something called **fee simple**, which is supposedly the “highest form of ownership” in modern law. You can sell your property, pass it to heirs, and use it as you wish.
Sounds better than feudal tenure, right?
Except for one problem: **if you stop paying property tax, the government takes it.** Just like a feudal lord evicting a tenant who stopped paying rent.
Fee simple solved the inheritance and transfer problems of feudal tenure. You can sell your land without the king’s permission. You can will it to your children. But the core feature of feudalism, perpetual payment or forfeiture, remained intact.
You “own” your home the same way a medieval vassal “owned” his land grant: as long as you keep paying.
—
## III. Colonial America: The System Crosses the Atlantic
### 1607: The Feudal System Sails to Jamestown
In 1607, English colonists arrived at Jamestown. They thought they were escaping the Old World’s restrictions. They weren’t. King James ensured the feudal system traveled with them.
All colonial land was held in “free and common socage,” a form of feudal tenure. Colonists weren’t escaping feudalism. They were just changing which monarch they paid rent to.
### 1634: The First American Property Tax
The first property tax in America appeared in **1634** in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They taxed land, livestock, and tangible assets to fund defense, roads, and town administration. The colonists didn’t invent this system. They imported it directly from Europe.
By the Revolutionary War era, the thirteen colonies had “well-developed tax systems” that funded the war effort. Taxation sparked “heated debate and some violence.” (Sound familiar?)
The debate: Should property be taxed by acreage (which farmers said was unfair) or by assessed value? The value-based system won. Tax rates increased “several fold” during the war to fund military operations.
Here’s the irony: Americans fought a revolution against British taxation. “No taxation without representation” became the rallying cry. Then, immediately after winning independence, the new American government imposed its own property taxes.
Same system. Different overlord. The rent continued.
—
## IV. The Founding Fathers’ Hypocrisy
### The Revolution Against Feudalism… That Kept Feudalism
The Founding Fathers spoke frequently about abolishing feudal systems. They fought British taxation as tyranny. They declared all men created equal. They established a republic free from monarchical control.
Then they kept property tax.
Why?
**Because they needed the money.**
### The Illusion of Allodial Title
After the Revolution, states passed laws declaring that American land would be held in **allodial title**, supposedly owned “free and clear” with no obligations to a superior. Pennsylvania enacted such a law in 1780, declaring land in the Commonwealth to be allodial.
Americans celebrated. Finally, true ownership. No more feudal rent.
Then came the debt crisis. The Revolutionary War left the federal government owing **$54 million** and the thirteen states collectively owing **$25 million**. Foreign creditors and domestic bondholders demanded payment. States needed revenue desperately.
Pennsylvania enacted **property tax legislation in 1785**. This was a separate law, passed five years after declaring land allodial. It directly undermined the promise of allodial ownership by imposing annual tax obligations.
Massachusetts raised property taxes by **sixty percent** to pay war debts. Farmers who fought in the Revolution suddenly couldn’t afford the new taxes. Many lost their land. This sparked **Shays’s Rebellion** (1786-1787), an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers against the tax collectors.
The rebellion was crushed. The taxes remained. The allodial promise was hollow.
### The Constitutional Framework
The **Tenth Amendment** to the U.S. Constitution reserves all powers not delegated to the federal government to the states. Since the Constitution doesn’t grant the federal government authority over property taxation (except in specific circumstances), that power resides with the states.
State legislatures simply **claimed** the authority to tax property. No higher authority granted it. Courts upheld it. And once established, the system became constitutionally protected through precedent.
By the mid-1800s, property tax was the **principal revenue source** for all states. **Fourteen of fifteen states** taxed land by 1796. What started as “temporary” Revolutionary War funding became the foundation of American local government finance.
### The Test: Who Really Owns Your Home?
Here’s how you find out if you truly own your property:
Stop paying property tax for one to two years. The government will seize your home. They’ll sell it at auction. In many states, they’ll keep the entire sale price, even if it’s far more than the debt you owe.
Just like a feudal lord evicting a tenant who stopped paying rent.
### Modern Scale: The System Entrenched
Today, property tax provides **72% of local government revenue** in the United States. That’s **$886 billion collected annually**.
You “own” your home the way a medieval serf “owned” his hut. As long as you pay rent to your superior, you can stay. Stop paying, and you’re out.
The Founding Fathers abolished feudalism in name. They kept it in practice. We’re living with that decision.
—
## V. Modern Political Theater: Nothing Ever Changes
Fast forward to 2025. Politicians from both parties promise property tax relief. Occasionally, one delivers. But the system never fundamentally changes. Let’s look at two recent examples.
### Trump Actually Delivered (This Time)
In 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which capped the **State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction** at $10,000. SALT includes property taxes. The cap hit homeowners in high-tax states like California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois the hardest.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to fix the problem he’d created. He proposed raising the SALT cap to **$40,000**.
On **July 4, 2025**, he signed the **One Big Beautiful Bill Act** into law. The SALT cap increased to $40,000, delivering real tax relief to millions of homeowners.
Credit where it’s due: Trump actually followed through. High-tax-state homeowners can now deduct more of their property tax burden from federal taxes. It doesn’t eliminate property tax, but it reduces the pain.
### DeSantis’s Battle Continues
Meanwhile in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has been waging a more ambitious campaign: **eliminating property taxes entirely.**
In 2025, DeSantis proposed **$1,000 property tax rebates** for 5.1 million Florida homeowners as a first step. His long-term goal: a **2026 ballot initiative** to eliminate property taxes and replace the revenue with sales taxes on tourists. His reasoning: *”I don’t want to give Canadians a tax cut.”*
A **University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey** (November 2025, 728 likely voters) showed **49% support** for elimination, **46% opposition**, and **5% undecided**. Nearly half of Florida voters are ready to end property tax.
### Who Opposes Elimination?
So why hasn’t it happened yet? Who’s fighting against it?
**Local government officials** warn elimination would “wipe out parks and recreation” and “devastate county budgets.” **School administrators** point out that property taxes fund **46% of Florida school budgets**. Losing **$43 billion in annual revenue** would require massive restructuring. To replace property tax revenue entirely, Florida’s sales tax would need to increase from 6% to roughly **14%**.
**Tax professionals** and county assessors would lose their jobs if property tax disappeared. **Municipal bond investors** hold billions in bonds backed by property tax revenue. **Real estate industry groups** worry about disruption to the housing market.
These aren’t small interests. This is a deeply entrenched system with powerful defenders who depend on the revenue stream continuing.
### Questions DeSantis’s Proposal Will Face
Any elimination plan will face some practical implementation questions.
**First, the bonded debt issue.** Florida municipalities hold billions of dollars in municipal bonds backed by property tax revenue. These are legal contracts with investors. An elimination plan will likely address how these bonded debt obligations transition without triggering defaults or damaging the state’s credit rating.
**Second, service-level stability.** If replacement revenue from sales tax falls short during an economic downturn (when tourism drops and people spend less), which services get protected and which can be reduced? Schools? Fire departments? Roads? These are the kinds of contingency questions that arise in any major restructuring.
Nevada’s allodial title program (which we’ll discuss later) worked because it included a trust fund mechanism to replace the lost revenue. Similar structural considerations would strengthen any elimination proposal.
### The Pattern: Both Parties, Same Result
Republicans promise tax relief (DeSantis, Trump). Democrats promise tax fairness and reform. State legislators from both parties hold hearings, form committees, and propose bills.
But the system continues largely unchanged. Why?
Because **too many entities depend on the revenue**. When you dig into who benefits from property tax, you understand why elimination is so difficult.
Let’s follow the money…
—
## VI. Who Benefits? Follow the Money
### The Property Tax System Feeds Itself
**$886 billion annually.** That’s how much local governments collect in property taxes every year in the United States. To understand why the system never changes, you need to understand who depends on that money continuing to flow.
### Beneficiary #1: Public Schools
**36% of all public school funding** comes from property taxes. For many school districts, it’s the primary revenue source.
But here’s where it gets ugly: this creates massive inequality. Rich neighborhoods have high property values, which generate high tax revenue, which funds great schools. Those great schools increase property values further, generating even more tax revenue. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle.
Poor neighborhoods have low property values, low tax revenue, underfunded schools. Bad schools depress property values, reducing tax revenue, making schools worse. Another self-reinforcing cycle, but in the opposite direction.
The result: zip code determines educational quality. Property tax funding doesn’t just support schools, it **entrenches educational inequality** based on neighborhood wealth.
School administrators and teachers’ unions fiercely defend property tax funding because they see no viable alternative revenue source. When DeSantis proposed elimination in Florida, school officials warned that **46% of Florida school budgets** would be affected. For those who see government schooling as the problem rather than the solution, that might not be a bad thing.
### Beneficiary #2: Local Governments
Property taxes provide **72% of local government revenue** nationwide. That funds police, fire departments, roads, parks, libraries, sanitation, and infrastructure.
Local governments are **addicted** to this revenue stream. It’s stable, predictable, and grows automatically as property values increase. Politicians can fund services without raising tax rates. Just wait for property values to rise, and tax revenue rises with them.
Any elimination of property tax requires complete restructuring of local government finance. That’s administratively complex, politically risky, and threatens the budgets that mayors, county commissioners, and city councils depend on for their projects and programs.
This is why even a popular Republican governor in a red state like Florida struggles to eliminate property tax. Local officials, many from his own party, oppose him because their budgets depend on the revenue.
### Beneficiary #3: Private Investors (The Scandal)
This is where the system crosses from “unfair taxation” into “legalized theft.”
Meet **Geraldine Tyler**. She was an elderly woman in Minnesota who owned a one-bedroom condo. She fell behind on property taxes and owed **$15,000** (including interest and penalties).
Hennepin County seized her condo. They sold it at auction for **$40,000**. Then they kept **all $40,000**.
Geraldine lost **$25,000 in equity**, more than her entire debt. The county took her home, sold it, pocketed the surplus, and gave her nothing.
### Home Equity Theft: The Practice
As of 2023, **twelve states** allowed this practice, called “home equity theft.” Here’s how it worked:
1. Homeowner falls behind on property taxes
2. Government or private investors buy the tax lien
3. They foreclose on the property
4. Sell it at auction
5. **Keep the entire sale price**, including surplus equity beyond the tax debt
Private investors loved this. They’d acquire properties for pennies on the dollar in tax debt, foreclose, sell at market value, and pocket the difference. It was legal theft backed by government authority.
### The Scale of the Theft
**8,500+ homes** were foreclosed under home equity theft laws between 2014-2021 in the twelve states that allowed it. In Massachusetts alone, **$56 million** was stolen from homeowners **in a single year**.
Some states charged **16% interest** on tax debt. Some investors deliberately avoided sending bills to homeowners, letting the debt accumulate until foreclosure became profitable.
The states most active in home equity theft: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
### The Supreme Court Finally Steps In
In 2023, Geraldine Tyler’s case reached the Supreme Court: **Tyler v. Hennepin County**.
The ruling was **unanimous: 9-0**. The Court held that taking property worth more than the debt owed violates the **Takings Clause** of the Fifth Amendment. The government may not take more from a taxpayer than what is owed.
Justice Roberts wrote: *”The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more.”*
It was a landmark victory for property rights. Home equity theft was declared unconstitutional.
But here’s the catch: the **private tax lien industry still exists**. Investors still buy tax liens from governments. They still charge high interest rates. They still foreclose on properties. They just can’t keep the surplus anymore (in theory, since enforcement varies by state).
The system adapted. The profiteering continues in modified form.
### Beneficiary #4: The Property Tax Industry
Thousands of people make their living from the property tax system:
– County assessors who value properties
– Tax collection agencies
– Foreclosure specialists
– Tax lien investors and funds
– Law firms specializing in property tax law
– Title companies handling tax sales
– Software companies providing assessment tools
– Consultants helping property owners appeal assessments
This entire industry depends on property tax continuing. If DeSantis or anyone else actually eliminated property tax, thousands of jobs would disappear overnight.
These aren’t villains. They’re people with families and mortgages. But their livelihoods depend on the system persisting. That creates institutional resistance to any elimination effort.
### The Bottom Line
Property tax generates **$886 billion annually**. Schools depend on it. Local governments are addicted to it. Private investors profit from it. An entire industry lives off it.
That’s why politicians promise reform but rarely deliver. Too many people benefit from the status quo.
But what about legal challenges? Can’t homeowners sue to stop this? Let’s look at what works in court and what doesn’t…
—
## VII. The Legal Challenges That Go Nowhere
### Good Luck With That
So you’ve learned that property tax is feudal rent. You’ve seen who profits. You’re angry. You want to challenge the system in court.
Here’s what you need to know: some constitutional arguments work. Most don’t.
### Constitutional Arguments That Work
You **can** successfully challenge property tax in court, but only on narrow procedural grounds:
**Equal Protection (14th Amendment)**: If the government systematically undervalues some properties while fully taxing others, that violates equal protection.
The landmark case: **Allegheny Pittsburgh Coal Co. v. County Commission** (1989). Webster County, West Virginia was assessing recently sold properties at true market value while assessing properties that hadn’t sold in years at a fraction of their value. Some properties were taxed at **8 to 35 times** what comparable neighboring properties paid. The county claimed they’d eventually equalize assessments, but at the current rate, it would take **500+ years**.
The Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional. You can’t systematically discriminate in property assessments.
**Due Process (14th Amendment)**: If the government doesn’t give you adequate notice of assessments or a fair opportunity to appeal, that violates due process. Courts will overturn tax foreclosures where proper notice wasn’t given.
**Takings Clause (5th Amendment)**: As we saw with Tyler v. Hennepin County, the government can’t take more from you than what you owe. Home equity theft violates the Takings Clause.
### Constitutional Arguments That Don’t Work
Here’s what fails every time:
**Claiming property tax itself is unconstitutional**: Courts uniformly reject this. Property tax has been part of American law since 1634. It’s deeply embedded in constitutional precedent. You can challenge specific applications, but not the existence of the tax itself.
**Sovereign citizen “color of law” theories**: These claim property tax violates **42 U.S.C. § 1983**, which prohibits government officials from violating civil rights “under color of law.” The argument goes: property tax transforms constitutional rights into privileges, which is a civil rights violation.
Courts treat these arguments as **frivolous**. Judges have sanctioned attorneys for making them. Don’t waste your money on this approach.
**Tenth Amendment challenges**: Some argue states lack authority to impose property tax. Courts respond: the Tenth Amendment **reserves** taxation power to states. That’s the opposite of limiting their authority.
### The Reality: You Can Challenge “How,” Not “That”
The legal reality is simple:
You can challenge **how** property tax is administered (unfair assessments, lack of due process, excessive taking).
You **cannot** challenge **that** it exists.
The Supreme Court established long ago that taxation is not a “taking” under the Fifth Amendment (with the Tyler exception for keeping surplus). States have constitutional authority under the Tenth Amendment to impose property taxes. The system is legally protected.
### The Catch-22
Here’s the bitter irony: property tax has feudal origins. The Founding Fathers supposedly abolished feudalism. But the system is now so constitutionally entrenched that challenging it would require challenging the entire foundation of local government funding.
Courts won’t do that. Legislatures won’t do that. The system protects itself.
Unless you take a different approach entirely.
What if you could establish **true ownership**, allodial title, where you actually own your property free and clear, with no obligations to government? What if there was proof this actually worked?
There is. Let me show you…
—
## VIII. The Path to True Ownership: What Works and What Doesn’t
### There IS a Way Out
This isn’t surrender. This isn’t “accept your fate as a tenant.” True allodial title, the kind medieval kings reserved for themselves, where you own land free and clear with no obligations to any superior authority, is the goal.
But let’s be honest about what actually exists and what’s still theoretical.
### What Nevada Actually Did (1998-2005): Prepaid Property Tax
In 1997, Nevada passed **Senate Bill 403**, creating what they called an “allodial title” program. It went into effect **July 1, 1998**.
Here’s how it worked:
**Eligibility**: Own and occupy a single-family home. Property had to be **free and clear**, with no mortgage and no liens.
**Process**:
1. Apply to county assessor
2. State treasurer calculates payment: **$5 for each $100 of assessed valuation**
3. Pay the lump sum
4. Receive certificate
5. **Never make another property tax payment**
**Example**: $200,000 home = $10,000 one-time payment. Compare that to $3,000/year over 30 years ($90,000 total). Savings: $80,000.
### The Catch: It Wasn’t True Allodial Title
Here’s the reality: Nevada’s program was **prepaid property tax**, not true allodial title. Homeowners paid a lump sum, and the state created a trust fund that continues paying property taxes on their behalf. Those properties are still subject to property tax. The homeowner just doesn’t pay it directly anymore.
It worked exactly as designed until 2005, when the Legislature shut down new applications. Existing certificates are still valid. Nevada still maintains the “Allodial Title Trust Account” twenty years later.
**The lesson**: Even prepaid property tax is politically impossible once governments realize they’re losing revenue. They shut it down after seven years.
### The Constitutional Weapon No One Has Fired: Arkansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Now here’s what’s genuinely interesting. Three states have constitutional provisions that **explicitly declare land allodial and prohibit feudal tenures**:
**Arkansas Constitution, Article 2, Section 28**:
*”All lands in this State are declared to be allodial; and feudal tenures of every description, with all their incidents, are prohibited.”*
**Minnesota Constitution, Article 1, Section 15**:
*”All lands within the state are allodial and feudal tenures of every description with all their incidents are prohibited.”*
**Wisconsin Constitution, Article 1, Section 14**: Similar allodial lands provision.
### Why This Matters
These aren’t aspirational statements. These are **state constitutional mandates**. Property tax is feudal rent, which means it’s a feudal tenure. These constitutions explicitly prohibit it.
### Why Hasn’t Anyone Used This?
Here’s the uncomfortable question: if Arkansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin constitutions declare land allodial and prohibit feudal tenures, why do all three states still collect property tax?
**Because the states ignore their own constitutions.** And no one has successfully sued to enforce them.
To make these provisions meaningful, someone would need to:
1. Own property free and clear in AR, MN, or WI
2. File a lawsuit in state court arguing property tax violates the state constitution
3. Win at trial court level
4. Survive government appeals
5. Get a binding state supreme court ruling
**Legal costs**: $20,000 to $50,000+. **Timeline**: 3 to 7 years. **Success rate**: Unknown. You’d be the test case.
### Why No One Has Done It Yet
**Most people don’t know these provisions exist.** They’re buried in state constitutions. The average homeowner has no idea their state declares land allodial.
**It’s expensive and uncertain.** You’re challenging the entire foundation of local government funding. Courts historically side with governments on taxation. No attorney wants to take a case with no precedent and no guarantee of success.
**The government will fight you.** Local officials depend on that revenue for schools, police, fire, roads. They’ll hire the best attorneys. They’ll appeal every adverse ruling. They’ll drag it out for years.
**But here’s the thing**: Someone eventually will do it. And when they win, it creates binding precedent for everyone else in that state.
### If You’re Going to Try: The Constitutional Challenge
If you live in Arkansas, Minnesota, or Wisconsin and want to be the test case, here’s what the legal process would look like:
**Step 1: Own Property Free and Clear**
– Pay off mortgage completely
– Clear all liens, judgments, encumbrances
– Property must be 100% yours
**Step 2: Stop Paying Property Tax**
– Let yourself fall behind (risky but necessary to establish standing)
– Government will send notices, then threats
– They’ll eventually move to foreclose
– **This is where you sue**
**Step 3: File Constitutional Challenge**
– Hire a constitutional attorney (expensive, hard to find one willing)
– File lawsuit in state court
– Argue: State constitution declares land allodial, prohibits feudal tenures
– Argue: Property tax IS feudal rent, therefore constitutionally prohibited
– Request injunction stopping foreclosure
**Step 4: Trial Court**
– Government will file motion to dismiss
– They’ll argue property tax doesn’t violate constitution
– Judge will likely side with government initially
– Prepare to appeal
**Step 5: State Appeals**
– Appeal to state court of appeals
– Eventually state supreme court
– This takes years
– **If you win at state supreme court, it’s binding precedent for everyone in the state**
**Step 6: If You Win**
– Property tax eliminated for you (and everyone else in the state)
– Government will likely try to amend state constitution
– Political battle begins
– You become a hero to property rights advocates
**Realistic Assessment**:
– **Cost**: $20,000 to $50,000 in legal fees
– **Timeline**: 3 to 7 years
– **Risk**: You could lose your home if you lose the case
– **Odds**: Unknown. No one has tried this before.
### The Path Forward: Exit and Build
Here’s the reality: you don’t need permission from the system to stop participating in it.
**The Constitutional Challenge Route** (Arkansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin):
– You have the law on your side. State constitutions explicitly prohibit feudal tenures.
– Someone needs to force the state to honor its own constitution.
– Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s risky. Yes, you might lose.
– But continuing to pay feudal rent for the rest of your life is guaranteed loss.
**The Parallel Systems Route**:
– Build wealth outside the traditional system (cryptocurrency, precious metals, portable assets)
– Structure ownership creatively (trusts, LLCs, offshore entities)
– Minimize taxable footprint (smaller properties, mobile homes, rural land)
– Live in ways that reduce dependence on government services
– Create community support networks that replace government functions
**What Won’t Work**:
Don’t waste time on half-measures:
– Appealing your assessment to pay slightly less feudal rent
– Voting for politicians who promise reform but never deliver
– Relocating to lower-tax states (you’re still a tenant, just with a cheaper landlord)
– Homestead exemptions (reduces rent, doesn’t eliminate it)
These are compromises with an unjust system. They accept the premise that government owns your land and you pay rent.
### The Honest Bottom Line
True allodial title, sovereign land ownership with zero obligations to government, **does not currently exist in practice** in the United States.
Nevada’s program was prepaid rent, not sovereignty. Arkansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have constitutional provisions that could work, but require someone willing to fight a decade-long legal battle with no guarantee of success.
**You face three choices**:
**1. Accept feudal rent.** Continue paying property tax. Think of yourself as a long-term tenant. Hope politicians eventually deliver relief. This is submission.
**2. Exit the system.** Build parallel economic structures that minimize your exposure to property tax. Structure assets outside the traditional framework. Reduce dependence on the system that claims ownership of your land. This is strategic withdrawal.
**3. Be the revolutionary.** File the constitutional challenge in AR, MN, or WI. Risk everything to force the state to honor its own constitution. Spend years in court. Potentially lose your home. But if you win, you eliminate property tax for everyone in that state and create the precedent that spreads nationwide. This is direct confrontation.
**Don’t settle for less than sovereign freedom.** Appealing your assessment, relocating to a lower-tax state, using homestead exemptions—these are all acceptance of the fundamental injustice. You’re negotiating the terms of your servitude, not ending it.
The feudal system survives because people accept it as inevitable. They pay their rent. They vote for politicians who promise relief. They use the tools the system provides (exemptions, appeals, deductions) to slightly reduce their burden.
But the burden remains. The relationship remains. Lord and tenant. County treasurer and homeowner.
**The constitutional weapon exists in three states. Someone needs to fire it.**
If you’re not willing to fight that battle, then focus on building parallel systems that reduce your exposure to the system. Don’t participate more than necessary in a structure you fundamentally oppose.
DeSantis was right: *”Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government.”*
**The question isn’t “how do I minimize my rent?” The question is “why am I paying rent on land I supposedly own?”**
Exit the system where you can. Build parallel structures. And if you have the resources and courage, be the test case that forces the state to honor its constitution.
Don’t settle. Don’t compromise. Don’t accept feudal rent as the price of living in America.
—
## IX. Your Next Steps: Choose Your Path
### The Choice Is Yours
You’ve traced property tax back to medieval feudalism. You’ve seen who profits from keeping it alive. You’ve learned that constitutional challenges exist but no one has tested them. You know Nevada had a prepaid option that worked until they shut it down.
Now you face a decision. Not five options, not ten strategies. **Three choices.**
### Path 1: Be the Revolutionary (Direct Confrontation)
**The constitutional challenge in Arkansas, Minnesota, or Wisconsin.**
You have the law on your side. Your state constitution explicitly declares land allodial and prohibits feudal tenures. Property tax IS feudal rent, therefore constitutionally prohibited.
**What this requires**:
– Own property free and clear (no mortgage, no liens)
– Stop paying property tax (establish standing for lawsuit)
– Hire constitutional attorney ($20K-$50K)
– File lawsuit in state court
– Fight through appeals for 3-7 years
– Risk losing your home if you lose
**What happens if you win**:
– Property tax eliminated for you **and everyone else in your state**
– Binding precedent set for similar challenges in other states
– Government scrambles to amend state constitution
– You become the person who finally fired the constitutional weapon
**Who this is for**: Someone with resources, courage, and conviction. Someone willing to risk everything for a chance to end property tax for millions. Someone who refuses to accept feudal rent as permanent.
This is the hardest path. It’s expensive. It’s risky. You might lose everything.
But if you win, you change history.
### Path 2: Exit the System (Strategic Withdrawal)
**Build parallel systems that minimize your exposure to property tax.**
You don’t need permission from the system to stop participating in it. You can structure your life and assets to reduce your vulnerability to government claims of ownership.
**Strategies that work**:
**Wealth Diversification**:
– Build wealth outside traditional real estate (cryptocurrency, precious metals, portable assets)
– Hold assets that can’t be easily seized
– Create multiple income streams not tied to physical location
**Creative Ownership Structures**:
– Trusts, LLCs, offshore entities that complicate government claims
– Minimize personal ownership of taxable property
– Structure for mobility and flexibility
**Reduce Your Footprint**:
– Live in smaller properties with lower tax burden
– Consider mobile homes, RVs, boats (harder to tax)
– Rural land with minimal improvements (lower assessed value)
– Multiple small properties instead of one large one
**Build Community Alternatives**:
– Create support networks that replace government services
– Mutual aid for security, education, infrastructure
– Reduce dependence on the system that claims to own your land
**Who this is for**: Someone building toward sovereignty rather than asking permission for it. Someone willing to think creatively about ownership and structure life outside traditional frameworks. Someone who refuses to participate more than necessary in a system they fundamentally oppose.
This isn’t defeat. This is strategy. You’re not fighting on the government’s terms. You’re building parallel systems they can’t easily control.
### Path 3: Accept Feudal Rent (Submission)
**Continue paying property tax. Think of yourself as a long-term tenant.**
Pay your annual rent to the county treasurer. Use the tools the system provides (homestead exemptions, assessment appeals). Vote for politicians who promise relief. Hope they eventually deliver. Accept that you’re negotiating the terms of your servitude, not ending it.
**Who this is for**: Someone who prioritizes stability and predictability over sovereignty. Someone unwilling to risk what they have for a chance at true ownership. Someone who accepts the fundamental relationship: government owns the land, you rent it.
This is the path of least resistance. No legal battles. No restructuring. No risk.
But the burden remains. The rent continues. Lord and tenant. County treasurer and homeowner.
### No Middle Ground
Notice what’s **not** on this list:
– Appealing your assessment to pay slightly less rent
– Relocating to a lower-tax state (cheaper landlord, still a tenant)
– Supporting politicians who promise reform but never deliver
– Using exemptions to reduce your burden a few hundred dollars
These are compromises with an unjust system. They accept the premise that government owns your land and you pay rent.
**Don’t settle for less than sovereign freedom.**
### The Bottom Line
You can’t “unknow” what you just learned. Property tax IS feudal rent. You DON’T truly own your home while it exists.
**The question isn’t “how do I minimize my rent?”**
**The question is: will you accept being a tenant, fight to end the system entirely, or build parallel structures outside it?**
Choose.
—
## X. Conclusion: Government Created This Problem
### Full Circle
We started with Governor Ron DeSantis admitting what most politicians won’t: *”Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government.”*
Then we traced that system back nearly a thousand years. To **William the Conqueror** in 1066, establishing feudal tenure where the king owned all land and everyone else paid perpetual rent. To **colonial America in 1634**, where the Massachusetts Bay Colony imported that system across the Atlantic. To the **Founding Fathers**, who spoke of abolishing feudalism but kept property tax “because they needed the money.”
We examined who profits today: schools funded by zip code inequality, local governments addicted to the revenue, private investors who turned tax liens into legalized theft, and an entire industry that depends on the system continuing.
We looked at legal challenges. Some work (Equal Protection, Tyler’s victory). Most don’t (sovereign citizen theories, constitutional challenges to the tax itself).
And then we looked at what might work: **allodial title**. Nevada ran a prepaid property tax program from 1998 to 2005. It wasn’t true sovereignty (the state still paid property tax from a trust fund), but it showed even prepaid rent is too threatening to government revenue. They shut it down after seven years. Arkansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have constitutional provisions declaring land allodial, but no one has successfully sued to enforce them.
### The Pattern That Emerges
When you step back and look at what this investigation revealed, a pattern becomes clear:
**Government created property tax.** William the Conqueror in 1066, colonial governments in 1634, state legislatures after the Revolution.
**Government maintains it.** Courts protect it, politicians promise reform but never deliver, local officials depend on the revenue.
**Government won’t voluntarily end it.** Nevada shut down even prepaid options. No state has honored constitutional provisions against feudal tenure. Politicians from both parties talk about reform while the system continues unchanged.
**The problem isn’t this politician or that policy. The problem is the structure itself.**
### The Uncomfortable Reality
Property tax exists because government needs revenue. It persists because government depends on that revenue. It won’t end because government won’t voluntarily give up that revenue.
Reform from within the system requires the system to reduce its own power and funding. That doesn’t happen.
The feudal system didn’t end. It just changed names:
**King** became **colonial government** became **state and local government**.
**Feudal rent** became **property tax**.
**Eviction by the crown** became **foreclosure by the county**.
Same structure. Different names. The rent continues.
### Three Observations
This investigation points to three observable responses people take when they understand this reality:
**Some accept it.** They continue paying property tax, use exemptions and appeals to reduce the burden slightly, vote for politicians who promise relief, and hope for eventual reform. They’ve concluded that working within the system is the most practical approach, even if reform never actually comes.
**Some exit strategically.** They structure assets outside traditional real estate (cryptocurrency, precious metals, portable wealth). They minimize taxable footprint (smaller properties, mobile homes, rural land). They build parallel economic systems that reduce dependence on government services. They’re not asking permission to be sovereign, they’re building toward it.
**Some might attempt constitutional challenges.** Arkansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have explicit constitutional provisions against feudal tenures. Someone willing to spend $20K-$50K and risk 3-7 years in court could potentially force a state to honor its own constitution. It’s never been successfully done, but the legal framework exists. That’s an individual choice with significant personal risk and uncertain outcome.
### The Founders’ Irony
The Founding Fathers abolished feudalism in name. They kept it in practice. They needed the revenue to pay war debts. State legislatures claimed the authority. Courts upheld it.
Now we live with that decision, paying annual tribute to maintain possession of land we supposedly “own.”
### Final Observation
Next time someone congratulates you on “owning” your home, remember what this investigation found:
You own it the way a medieval vassal owned his land grant. As long as you pay your annual rent to your superior, you can stay. Miss two payments, and they take it back.
The only difference: your lord is the county treasurer instead of a feudal baron.
**William the Conqueror instituted feudal rent in 1066. Government maintains it in 2025. True allodial title, sovereign land ownership with zero obligations, does not currently exist in practice in the United States.**
The evidence suggests government won’t voluntarily give up this revenue stream. The question each individual faces: accept it, minimize exposure to it, or challenge it through whatever legal means they’re willing to risk.
—
### Support Independent Journalism
This kind of deep-dive historical investigation takes days of research. If you value this work, consider supporting Unearthed by Al:
**[Ko-fi Support Button]**
Membership tiers available:
– **Truth Seeker** ($7/mo): All articles, newsletters, exclusive content
– **Researcher** ($17/mo): + Source vault, research notes, behind-the-scenes
– **Masterminds** ($47/mo): + Direct communication, topic influence, premium access